Driven from home by gunfire and fear of the law, young John Slater Engels seeks refuge in the mountains of Montana. He meets Teddy Lightfoot, who invites the boy to live with him and his wife in a small Crow village nestled in the Absaroka Mountains. For safety, he goes only by his middle name. As Slater grows into manhood, he becomes an excellent scout and is hired to assist the soldiers at Fort Ellis. But just when the future begins to look bright, Slater crosses paths with a dangerous Sioux war chief who vows to take his life.